Concert Review: The 5.6.7.8’s/Sit n’ Spin/The Abyssmals @ No Fun 08/24/2023

When The 5.6.7.8’s played The House of Blue Leaves in Quentin Tarantino’s film Kill Bill, the evening culminated in an epic revenge-fueled battle involving swords and other deadly weaponry, ultimately resulting in multiple injuries and massive casualties.  When the band performed their sold-out show at No Fun on Thursday night, the evening happily just concluded with a genteel mosh pit and some very satisfied music fans.  The Tokyo trio brought their joyful blend of surf/garage/punk/rockabilly and classic rock and roll to a packed house with another stellar line-up from show promoters Hey Greasy. 

90s NYC garage rockers Sit n’ Spin preceded them with girl-group harmonies and slashing guitars, having a blast returning to performing.  Local support from Schenectady’s The Abyssmals started the evening with a groovy psych-rock set that pulsed with a Syd Barrett meets Austin Powers vibe.  All hail the eclectic mix of artists No Fun has presented in just over a year’s existence, shows so intriguing that I had to visit twice in one week!

The Abyssmals’ too-brief set had me marveling at the variety of Upstate talent to be discovered.  Trippy, rocking, and danceable, this is a band I hope to catch again soon.  

“We’re old!” Sit n’ Spin proudly proclaimed, telling the crowd they were playing together again after 5 years and a 20-year break before that.  Age ain’t nothing but a number, as the band was clearly enjoying hitting the stage once again and offering up a rousing cover of “Green Door” along with frisky originals like “Elvis” and Bucket T.”

“You know Godzilla?” Yoshiko Fujiyama asked the eager crowd, ” You know Mothra?” the audience erupted in the affirmative, and The 5.6.7.8’s lit into a set that could have been cute if it didn’t rock so damn hard.  Fujiyama, along with Chellio Panther Omo on bass and Sachiko on drums (and gong), keep the knees shaking and the heads bopping with “Bomb The Twist,” a truly mind-bending fuzzy freakout cover of “Hanky Panky,” and an encore of “Woo Hoo” (joined by the members of Sit n’ Spin, who were also tourmates of the 5.6.7.8’s twenty years ago) and closing with the theme song from the 1960’s Batman TV show.

Fun, fun, fun!

Photo Gallery by Leif Zurmuhlen